Kickstarter hacked, customer data obtained

Users of popular crowdfunding website Kickstarter have been asked to change their passwords after the company revealed it had been hacked.

New York City police officials contacted the fundraising platform last Wednesday night (our Thursday night) after learning Kickstarter customer data like email addresses, mailing addresses, personal phone numbers and encrypted passwords had been accessed by hackers.

According to Reuters.com, Kickstarter waited until Saturday to announce the news via a blog post on Kickstarter.com.

Yancey Strickler, Kickstarter’s Chief Executive said no credit card details or actual passwords were obtained and no unauthorised charges were made.

“As a precaution,” he warned, “we strongly recommend that you create a new password for your Kickstarter account, and other accounts where you use this password.”

Kickstarter say they immediately closed the security breach and updated the site system with strengthened cybersecurity measures.

Strickler later added a short Q&A below the post where he answered common questions including why it had taken Kickstarter three days to notify users: “We immediately closed the breach and notified everyone as soon we had thoroughly investigated the situation,” he said.

The five-year-old platform, who extended its reach to Australia last year, also issued a letter to Kickstarter stakeholders, which included the following apology.

“We set a very high bar for how we serve our community, and this incident is frustrating and upsetting,” he said. “We are working closely with law enforcement and we are doing everything in our power to prevent this from happening again.”

Any further questions for Kickstarter on customer accounts can be asked via email at [email protected].

TMN will publish further information regarding the hack as it surfaces.